This is a blog post written by me on September 15th, i.e The day when we celebrate "Engineers Day" in India. Please take some time from your busy schedule to read about this great personality and Thank him for all the great things he has done to the Human Community.
This happened some years ago in the United States of America. Some Indians stood at the foot of a seventy-five-foot ladder in a factory. They were visiting important factories in the States to study their working. Officers of the factory were with them, explaining how the factory worked In one part Of the factory, the officer said "If you want to see how this machine works you will have to climb to the top,"
The leader of the Indians was "Very well, let us climb," he said. That meant that they had to climb up the seventy-five-foot ladder, past four stories. The others were very much surprised. He was the oldest of them all; most of them trembled at the thought of climbing up the steel ladder. The old gentleman briskly stepped towards the ladder, and started to climb. Many of the others stayed back. A few followed as a matter of duty, but some of them soon gave it up. The old gentleman reached the top, completed the inspection and briskly climbed down. Only three others completed the feat. It was always so with the gentleman - anything he undertook he did systematically and very well. No difficulty, any danger could keep him back.The old gentleman went up the ladder!
He was Doctor Sri M. Visvesvaraya -or, Sir M.V., as he was popularly known.
He lead a very simple life. He was a strict vegetarian and a teetotaler. Some of the positions he held were
This great man, this worker of miracles, this Bhagiratha of Karnataka, this Bharata Ratna (the Gem of India) was Sri M.V. The man who gave even one of these would deserve admiration and gratitude.But all these were the gifts of one man - and he gave these to his country about fifty-five years ago, when it was still not free and when few people here cared to study science. Hats Off to you sir. We are blessed to be born in a country where you lived for 101 years.
source and courtesy : karnataka.com, freeindia.org, wikipedia.
This happened some years ago in the United States of America. Some Indians stood at the foot of a seventy-five-foot ladder in a factory. They were visiting important factories in the States to study their working. Officers of the factory were with them, explaining how the factory worked In one part Of the factory, the officer said "If you want to see how this machine works you will have to climb to the top,"
The leader of the Indians was "Very well, let us climb," he said. That meant that they had to climb up the seventy-five-foot ladder, past four stories. The others were very much surprised. He was the oldest of them all; most of them trembled at the thought of climbing up the steel ladder. The old gentleman briskly stepped towards the ladder, and started to climb. Many of the others stayed back. A few followed as a matter of duty, but some of them soon gave it up. The old gentleman reached the top, completed the inspection and briskly climbed down. Only three others completed the feat. It was always so with the gentleman - anything he undertook he did systematically and very well. No difficulty, any danger could keep him back.The old gentleman went up the ladder!
He was Doctor Sri M. Visvesvaraya -or, Sir M.V., as he was popularly known.
He lead a very simple life. He was a strict vegetarian and a teetotaler. Some of the positions he held were
- Assistant Engineer, Bombay Government Service[in 1884]
- Chief Engineer, Hyderabad State [he served only for 7 months starting April 15, 1909]
- Chief Engineer in Mysore State [Nov 15, 1909]. He was also Secretary to the Railways.
- President of Education and Industrial Development committees in Mysore State
- Dewan of Mysore. [for six years starting 1912]
- Chairman, Bhadravati Iron Works
- Member of the Governing Council of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
- Member of the Governing Council of Tata Iron and Steel Company [TISCO]
- Member of Back Bay enquiry committee, London
- Member of a committee constituted in 1917 to make recommendations regarding the future of Indian States.
To name few of the many things he was responsible for:
- Architect of the Krishnarajasagara dam - or KRS or Brindavan gardens. One of the biggest dams in India which irrigates a hundred and twenty thousand acres of land.
- Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works - as its Chairman he rescued it from becoming extinct.
- Mysore Sandal Oil Factory and the Mysore soap factory
- Mysore University - Sir M.V.'s question was "If Australia and Canada could have universities of their own for less than a million population, cannot Mysore with a population of not less that 60 lakhs have a University of its own?"
- State Bank of Mysore (it was first named The Bank of Mysore)
- Public libraries in Mysore and Bangalore
- Encouraging girls to attend school.
- Mysore Chamber of Commerce
- Kannada Sahitya Parishad or the Kannada Literary Academy
- Sri Jayachamarajendra Occupational Institute, Bangalore - funded by the ENTIRE money [Rs 2 lacs] he earned from rescuing Bhadravati Iron Works
Some of the honours and laurels conferred on Sir M.V.,
| 1904 | Honorary Membership of London Institution of Civil Engineers for an unbroken period of 50 years |
| 1906 | "Kaisar-i-Hind" in recognition of his services |
| 1911 | C.I.E. (Companion of the Indian Empire) at the Delhi Darbar |
| 1915 | K.C.I.E. (Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire) |
| 1921 | D.Sc. - Calcutta University |
| 1931 | LLD - Bombay University |
| 1937 | D.Litt - Benaras Hindu University |
| 1943 | Elected as an Honorary Life Member of the Institution of Engineers (India) |
| 1944 | D.Sc. - Allahabad University |
| 1948 | Doctorate - LLD., Mysore University |
| 1953 | D.Litt - Andhra University |
| 1953 | Awarded the Honorary Fellowship of the Institute of Town Planners, India |
| 1955 | Conferred ' BHARATHA RATNA'(The gem of India), the highest dinstiction of the country |
| 1958 | 'Durga Prasad Khaitan Memorial Gold Medal' by the Royal Asiatic Society Council of Bengal |
| 1959 | Fellowship of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore |
Bank Balance
Sir MV maintained an account with Bank of Mysore, which is now State Bank of Mysore. Sir MV had Rs 990 on March 27, 1918, which increased to Rs 11,487 on March 3, 1919. His account had thrice attracted interests of Rs 14, Rs 66 and Rs 117 during this period. An entry in the passbook on Nov 18, 1918 reveals he got Rs 13,486 transferred to this current account from a fixed deposit account.
This great man, this worker of miracles, this Bhagiratha of Karnataka, this Bharata Ratna (the Gem of India) was Sri M.V. The man who gave even one of these would deserve admiration and gratitude.But all these were the gifts of one man - and he gave these to his country about fifty-five years ago, when it was still not free and when few people here cared to study science. Hats Off to you sir. We are blessed to be born in a country where you lived for 101 years.
source and courtesy : karnataka.com, freeindia.org, wikipedia.
Good Info..!
ReplyDeletenice one..I too feel proud as you are for belonging to such a prestigious nation.
ReplyDelete